Henry Spencer Moore
Autumn Griggs
Visual Arts TTh 2:30-3:45
This template can be used as a starter file for a photo album.
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Henry Spencer Moore
Introducing
Date of Birth: July 30, 1898
Place of Birth: Castleford, UK
Date of Death: August 31, 1986
Place of Death: Much Hadham, UK
Cause of Death: Old Age (88)
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Primary type of artwork: sculpture, but also drawing, graphics, textiles
Media: Finished works were cast in bronze using wax method, but they began with Molding figures out of plaster plaster
Style or Period of Art: Modernism
Short explanation of that style or period:
Other artists of Modernist period: Anthony Caro (Worked with Moore, also used metal) and Robert Breer (Abstract sculptures that moved when touched)
Henry Spencer Moore’s Artistic Facts
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1912: RMS Titanic Sinks
1917: US Enters WWI
1920: 19th Amendment lets women vote
1929: Stock market crash
MOMA Opens to the public in NYC
1934: Dust Bowl
1939: WWII Begins
1950: Korean war begins
1958: NASA formed
1963: President Kennedy assassinated
1968: MLK Jr. Assassinated
1969: Neil Armstrong walks on the moon
1974: Watergate scandal
1981: MTV created
Current Events
By the end of his career, Moore was the most successful living artist at auction
Moore was the son of a coal miner
Interesting
Facts
About
Henry
Moore
His large scale commissions made him wealthy, but he continued to live frugally
Moore was the youngest man in the Prince of Wales’ Own Civil Service Rifles
Moore’s work has frequently been subject to vandalism
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Man Enters The Cosmos
1980; Bronze
Adler Planetarium (outdoor), Chicago, IL
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Subject: The sculpture itself is a functional bowstring Equatorial sundial
Genre: functional sculpture
Style: cold, clean-lined, minimal
Description
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Analysis
Formal Elements-
Lines: The line is the bowstring and the leading
lines are in the curve of the bow.
Shapes: The bows are circular and the bowstring is
straight. The sculpture is very mathematical.
Form: Does not attempt to personify any elements
Color: Bronze
Space/depth: 396cm (156in) around (measured by base)
Value: Sculpture is outdoors but the metal is dark;
this creates a contrast on the lake in the
background
Pattern: There is no pattern, except that the sculpture could be considered parallel
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ANALYSIS
Positioning
Foreground: The foreground of the sculpture, to me, is the top of the sculpture, or the most pronounced part. The actual sundial consists of two crescent-style bows at 90 degree angles, which sit on a 45-degree angle toward the sky (much like a claw). There is a vertical rod that connects one of the crescents and creates the “bowstring.”
Mid-ground: The mid-ground is the base and plaque of the sculpture, which explains the sundial’s purpose and how to use it. This also explains that the sundial does not account for Daylight Savings adjustments. All elements here are still bronze.
Background: The background of the sculpture is the setting in which it is placed, which is on the shore of Lake Michigan.
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My interpretation of
Man Enters the Cosmos
The title is both appropriate for the nature of the work and mysterious. It is strange for such a functional sculpture to have a creative name.
I think the artist was trying to make this sundial a beautiful piece of equipment, since he was commissioned to make it.
Moore chose this subject because it was commissioned to sit outside of a planetarium
I don’t think there is any story being told with this sculpture.
The sculpture makes me feel intrigued. When I first looked at it, I thought the sculpture was just random modernist abstract shaped, but I think it’s cool that the “random shapes” are actually functional.
Judgement
What was successful:
The successful elements of the sculpture
are the clean lines and functionality of it. I also
think the title of the work is both accurate
and interesting.
What wasn’t successful:
The only downfall of a sundial is that it can’t
account for Daylight Savings, but that isn’t
the fault of the work, but just the system we use.
Is it worth sharing?
This art is both worth sharing and actually using.
What would others say?
Others would probably say that this work is just a weird sculpture by the lake, if they
had no idea of its actual purpose or commission.
What is worth remembering?
I think it’s important to remember that something like this can be useful and practical.
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